January 20, 2016

Glamour Photography Is Not Dead!

Martie Hair, Makeup and Beauty blemish remover app, free picture editor, Glamour shots, makeover app, online makeover, Perfect365, social trends, YouCam Makeup 10 Comments

Glamour Photography Is Not Dead

Do you ever see pictures of your friends on social media and feel a dig of jealousy at how gorgeous they look?  Is their skin flawless? Is their makeup on-point?  Are their eyebrows totally perfect?  Chances are, they’ve been tinkering with their pictures.  The good news is, you can, too…with a free picture editor! Throw on that old denim jacket, flip up the collar and hold on for dear life, because glamour photography is not dead!

Despite recent social trends, the chance of seeing pictures of me on Facebook after using the amazing tools I’m about to show you are slim to none (okay, 1 in 100). I’m perfectly content with my own looks, and confident in the fact that this old skin of mine has served me well over the years. Sure, I have moles and dark spots and wrinkles under my eyes (although I’m down a few moles after visiting my dermatologist last week), but it’s the skin God gave me and I wouldn’t dare erase all that junk for a Facebook post (very often). However, if you’ll turn your attention to my lovely headshot in the top left corner of this blog, you’ll see evidence that I’m a lyin’, cheatin’ heifer. I totally used a free photo editor on that photo!  I never said I wouldn’t edit for A Hair In My Biscuit, now did I? Why, you ask?  It just looks more professional, and of higher quality.  I’m a tell-all kind of gal, and I don’t mind using a few little enhancements to lure readers to my blog!

The Scoop

The free picture editor that I speak of is an app called Perfect365, and it’s an online makeover app that was recommended to me by a client in the salon.  This client is already extremely gorgeous and doesn’t need the aid of a cosmetic app to make her shine.  However, my photography could use some work.  I posted a shot of this client after doing her hair, and she went in and added just a few touches that really made my photo look professional!  I was amazed!  (For the sake of her privacy, I’ll not be showing off her face, or her handiwork.)

I’m going to share one of the less-hated photos of me, taken by Skipper (my friend and former co-worker).  Skipper gave me an ego boost on this day last summer and complimented my makeup, so I asked her to snap a pic.  I don’t normally love having my picture taken, but if someone insists I look particularly gorgeous, it seems like the time to pose. I needed a new profile picture anyway. Observe:

I shared this picture on social media and got all the usual compliments, but mostly for my earrings.  I do love those earrings.

Anywho, the other day I decided to run it through the ol’ Perfect365 online makeover app and see what kind of magic I could work. The results?

Whiter teeth, fewer wrinkles, brighter eyes, and the makeup is just enhanced to show what it really looked like (or what it really looked like in my head and in my mirror that morning). It’s an amazing blemish remover app! There’s no erasing that eczema flare-up on my neck, though. I never sat for a glamour photography session, even in the 80’s and 90’s when it was a thing. Maybe I should have!

The challenge

I thought I would challenge it.  I decided to try it out on a picture of me without makeup.  Keep in mind that I had just waxed my out-of-control eyebrows the day before, and even Perfect365 couldn’t get rid of all the redness in my unruly unibrow area.

Even still, the results are pretty amazing! (By the way, that nasty little mole on my eyelid was the first to go at the dermatologist! I’m thrilled it’s gone.  It’s surprising how ugly people can be about things like that, so in spite of all of those mean, hateful people who loved to point it out and ask me about it, I’m making sure to show it off one last time. Heh heh.  Just the kind of gal I am. Also, that spot on my other eyebrow was suspicious!  Nothing scary, but I should’ve had it checked sooner.  If you have weird things on your skin that are new and don’t look right, please, get them checked. Early detection is important!  P.S.A. over.)

My favorite thing about the this online makeover app is that I have discovered some new colors by playing around with it.  I would have never tried that color lipstick above, but seeing it on, it’s not a bad shade!  I’ve also stumbled upon several “what not to do” colors and makeup looks, so there’s that.

Glamour photography and kids

After looking at myself all I could possibly stand,  I did something stupid. This glamour photography thing got the best of me, I guess. I thought, “I wonder what Pooh would look like with makeup?” Pooh, my 13-year-old, has absolutely no desire to goop her face up with a bunch of cosmetics, and for that, I am thankful. Even when she has gone to dances and formal events, she’s only allowed me to apply very limited amounts of makeup. Here’s one of my favorite selfies she left on my phone.

Isn’t she just so pretty? Here’s what my dumb self did to it.

What the hell was I thinking? Why would I want to make my daughter look 20 years old?  Erase, erase, erase!!

Now, that’s much better. She hated the edited version, thank God.

A couple of days later, Tigger was scrolling through the pictures on my phone while we waited at the dentist.  She decided she was feeling a bit left out of all the glamorousness,  so she of course said, “Do me! Do me!”  I snapped this adorable photo,

set her up on the app, and told her to have at it. I knew better than to think she would be interested in glamour photography for the sake of looking grown-up glamourous.

This, right here, was why the free picture editor was invented!  Maybe Tigger was thinking of going into the witness protection program? I laughed until I cried! Oh, to have the imagination and confidence of my sweet 10-year-old.  This girl has personality for days!

Other online makeover apps

The girls have decided that the app is pretty fun, and they even found another one that they’ve been playing with on their own devices.  YouCam Makeup is their pick for an online makeover. It’s a great blemish remover app, too! I kinda hope they keep their handiwork off of Instagram…

No, I’m not encouraging anyone to try to be someone they’re not.  I’m all for loving yourself, flaws and all.  I tell my girls constantly to love the skin they’re in, and I’m proud that neither of them has a desire to cake on the makeup.  I hope they avoid it as long as possible, and I pray that they’ll never feel like they can’t leave the house without a full-on warpaint experience.  But, what’s the harm in having a little fun?  They missed the whole glamour photography craze, and that’s a shame.  With what will I humiliate them when they meet Mr. Right and bring him home to Mama?

Well, I guess I could just use these:

Happy editing!

X,O,X,O,   Martie